Snyder to lead college

Christopher A. Snyder will lead Mississippi State University’s Shackouls Honors College as the inaugural dean. In making the announcement, Jerry Gilbert, university provost and executive vice president, said Snyder’s appointment as dean represents an elevated leadership role from the previous position of college director.

Snyder officially begins work Aug. 1, he added.

An authority on medieval history, Synder has been serving since 2006 as director of the honors program and professor of European history at Marymount University in Arlington, Va.

Related to his Marymount duties, Snyder also directs the Arlington-based National Celtic Heritage Center. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in medieval history from Emory University and a bachelor’s in medieval and renaissance studies from West Virginia University.

He has written six books and edited two others. He also has authored numerous book chapters, journal articles, and film and book reviews.

Additionally, he has been featured on television on the History Channel and British Broadcasting Corp., as well as in articles published in the Washington Post and U.S. News and World Report.